I have a bed where I planted these budda belly's bamboo (wamin) about
five years ago. They started to spread a little. Here are two pictures where
you can see the new shoots are very close to a chain linked fence.
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2005-...6/P1000349.JPG
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2005-...6/P1000350.JPG

On the other side of the fence is my neighbor's property. Their
swimming pool is only four feet from the fence.

Is this a disaster waiting to happen? What can I do?

Thanks,

MC

miamicuse wrote:
I have a bed where I planted these budda belly's bamboo (wamin) about
five years ago. They started to spread a little. Here are two pictures where
you can see the new shoots are very close to a chain linked fence.
CUT
Is this a disaster waiting to happen? What can I do?

Unfortunately, it is a disaster that has already happened. When you
have a shoot that big coming up that close to the fence, you already
have large rhizomes extending well under it (assuming there is no
barrier)

What you can do is handle it A.S.A.P. as the problem will be much
easier to deal with now than even a year or two later. Get a trenching
tool, or a shovel and axe (axe is for chopping rhizomes), or hire a
couple of day-laborers to help, and dig a trench on the fence side of
the bamboo.

Here is why (and how) to dig the trench:
http://www.wikihow.com/Install-a-Bamboo-Rhizome-Barrier

The way I would handle this, is to cut off the rhizomes and install a
barrier. Then, go let your neighbor know that there are probably
chopped off rhizomes that went under the fence already. Let your
neighbor know that there are two ways to get rid of them... One is to
wait for shoots to come up and then keep cutting them off or poisoning
them until the plant dies (takes a long time). The other is to wait
till they shoot, and then dig where the shoots are and remove them.
(And keep looking for new shoots un case you missed any the first
time.)

You could talk to your neighbor before doing any of this just in case
he or she doesn't mind the bamboo, but that's a long shot.

Good luck!

On Sun, 27 Aug 2006 15:18:47 -0400, miamicuse wrote:

short neck
I have a bed where I planted these budda belly's bamboo (wamin) about
five years ago. They started to spread a little. Here are two pictures where
you can see the new shoots are very close to a chain linked fence.
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2005-...6/P1000349.JPG
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2005-...6/P1000350.JPG

On the other side of the fence is my neighbor's property. Their
swimming pool is only four feet from the fence.

Is this a disaster waiting to happen? What can I do?

Thanks,

MC



Nice specimen!

I wouldn't worry too much about your neighbor's pool with this species.

Bambusa vulgaris 'Wamin' is a clumping bamboo with short-necked
rhizomes. It is unnecessary to use a barrier or go to great effort to
chase non-existent monopodial rhizones (such as with running bamboos). You
should simply cut the shoot off as deep as you can with a shovel, or
remove the rhizomes that are sending up shoots toward your neighbors
fence. Better yet, carefully divide them out, propagate, and sell. Send
one to me!! Restrict your watering to the middle and the side of the clump
opposite your neighbor's fence. Leave the space between the clump and the
fence dry. This may discourage what slow progress the plant may be making
toward your neighbor's yard.

Here is some info on clumping versus running bamboos:


https://www.bambooheadquarters.com/bamboorunning.php
http://www.littleacrebamboo.com/bamboo.htm
http://www.tropicalbamboo.com/Bamboo_clumping.asp
http://www.booshootgardens.com/species.html

Good luck!

stvc

miamicuse wrote:
Is this a disaster waiting to happen? What can I do?

My previous post on this was off base... The whole thing was based on
my misunderstanding of what bamboo you were talking about.

That said, it is possible that this will slowly expand to come up on
the other side of the fence. While it won't pose a threat of taking
over on your neighbor's side, even one shoot could scare and anger your
neighbor due to the general belief that Bamboo spreads all over the
place and is impossible to stop.

So at the least, you might soon have a confrontation if you don't keep
it a foot or two away from the fence. Digging out (and giving away or
selling) the culms AND underground parts within a foot or two of the
fence would be wise I think.

Take all of this with a grain of salt... As I have already proven, I am
not an expert on clumping bamboo!